Australian researchers have found that a drug called Imetelstat has the potential to fight and sometimes defeat blood cancer. Following the recent trials in Brisbane, the FDA has recently cleared the way for clinical trials in the United States.

How Does Imetelstat Kill Cancer Cells?

The medication works by manipulating a particular protein of the blood. Imetelstat effectively “turns off” a certain gene to prevent the formation of a protein called telomerase. Without that protein, the stem cells that become leukemia cells cannot be formed. Existing cancer cells begin to disappear.

The news is especially exciting because chemotherapy has its lowest success rates with acute myeloid leukemia, or AML.

Patients who have undergone unsuccessful chemotherapy for AML can potentially use Imetelstat to prolong life or possibly enter remission. For all AML patients, Imetelstat could be used as a follow-up treatment after chemotherapy to help prevent the cancer from returning.

What’s Next for Blood Cancer Medicine?

After the Australian team recently published their findings and made a presentation to the American Society of Hematology, interest in the treatment has further increased.

The FDA had previously been concerned by a possible connection between Imetelstat and liver problems, but that issue has been ruled out. With that hurdle cleared, optimism is building for the breakthrough drug to succeed in human trials and find approval for all patients with AML.

Many alternative treatments are currently available for patients with cancer resistant to standard therapies. Contact Issels® Integrative Immuno-Oncology for information about our innovative cancer treatments.

Here is a roundup of recent discoveries that could lead to new cancer treatments:

Measles Virus Causes Cancer Remission

A concentrated dose of measles virus – the equivalent of 10 million vaccinations — has sent a woman’s incurable blood cancer into remission. A woman with metastasized multiple myeloma was injected with an experimental dose of measles vaccine in a Mayo Clinic trial.

“The idea here is that a virus can be trained to specifically damage a cancer and to leave other tissues in the body unharmed,” the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Stephen Russell told CNN.

Cancer vaccines that target the tumor and the surrounding tumor microenvironment are producing results that many oncologists and cancer patients are calling “miraculous.” Some researchers believe the recent success with measles vaccine could lead to the development of other “virotherapies” to treat cancer.

Researchers Discover Cancer’s “Mother Cells”

British scientists say they have identified the stem cells that cause cancer. According to London’s Daily Mail, tumors originate from deadly “mother cells” that not only “give them birth” but also nurture and keep the cancer cells alive. Researchers say cancer stem cells also play a critical role in metastasis and the establishment of cancer tumors in other parts of the body.

The existence of cancer stem cells has been theorized, but this is the first time researchers have identified and tracked their progress in cancer patients. Many researchers believe that finding a way to kill cancer stem cells will be a crucial step toward curing cancer.

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